Dare to Fall

Friday, 28 July 2017

Yesterday, Estelle Maskame's new young adult novel Dare to Fall was released into the wild. When emailed by Black & White Publishing about her new book, I immediately agreed to take part in the blog tour for it - not just because the cover was insanely pretty, but because I fell in love with Estelle's writing after reading the first few sample chapters of the first book in the DIMILY trilogy on Wattpad.

Dare to Fall is a an extremely poignant novella about a teenage girl named MacKenzie. She's known for having an easy going and strong personality, but people's perceptions of her couldn't be further from the truth. It's been many years since tragedy struck her family, but nevertheless, she's still reeling from what happened as if it were yesterday. The grief isn't just consuming her; it's eating up her mum and dad, too.Jaden Hunter, the boy Kenzie used to date, is also familiar with grief. His parents died in a car crash last year, and ever since then, his friends - including Kenzie - have gone out of their way to avoid him. He doesn't understand anything: why his parents died, or why the girl he used to love so much could distance herself from him so quickly.Too afraid to be a part of Jaden's grief-stricken world, Kenzie has done everything humanly possible to stay away from him, until one night when they unexpectedly come face-to-face and she has no choice but to talk to him again. As Kenzie begins to remember all the reasons why she fell in love with Jaden, can she keep the truth she's tried so desperately hard to bury from spilling out? And can she fall for the boy she's afraid of growing close to for the second time?Favourite quote:'How do I tell him that grief terrifies me? How do I tell him that it was easier to step back than to step up?'Favourite character:My favourite character in the book was definitely MacKenzie. I felt like I instantly connected with her, perhaps because I could relate to some of the problems she had been through in the past. Estelle Maskame did a brilliant job of creating a character that I could empathise with, and that every reader would no doubt want to befriend and fiercely look out for by the end of the book.3 words to describe the book:Bittersweet, emotional, honest.Rating:✮✮✮/✮✮✮✮✮

In the beginning, I felt like the book had quite a slow pace to it, but make no mistake: when I reached the final page, I was screeching. The story ended in a way that completely broke my heart and made me feel very conflicted inside (it still hurts thinking about it now).

Dare to Fall is a read that sheds light on alcoholism and the power of grief in an extremely sensitive way, and is a story that I recommend to all fans of young adult fiction. There are still plenty of stops left on the blog tour for Dare to Fall, so if you want to read other people's review of the book, here is where to find them: